WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2003 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it will donate 12,340 metric tons of U.S. agricultural commodities to International Partnership for Human Development, Inc. (IPHD), a private voluntary organization, for a child education and nutrition project in Moldova. The commodities, which include 6,040 tons of bread flour, 3,150 tons of potato flakes, 1,050 tons of vegetable oil and 2,100 tons of pinto beans, are part of a USDA assistance package valued at around $9 million for this project.
IPHD will provide school lunches to 300,000 school children in 2,700 schools and preschools over a seven-month period. In addition to focusing on school enrollment and attendance, this project will improve kitchens in the poorest rural schools and initiate a system to monitor the physical development and nutrition of preschool children.
The donation will be made under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service.
The McGovern-Dole program provides for USDA donations of agricultural commodities to promote education, child development and food security for some of the world’s poorest children. USDA expects to provide 150,000 tons of U.S. commodities to 21 countries under fiscal 2003 McGovern-Dole donation agreements.
For further information, contact Alessandra McCormack of FAS at (202) 720-0862, or by e-mail at Alessandra.McCormack@fas.usda.gov.
FAS news releases are available on the Internet at http://www.fas.usda.gov.
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